Hatters Prove They Can Play Well With Foley On Bench

SPORTS VOLUSIA SPORTS

DELAND — With center Sarah Foley going wild under the boards, it looked like Stetson would have no trouble getting a much-needed victory last Saturday against conference foe Central Florida.

But when Foley picked up two quick fouls to open the second half, the Hatters were put into a position to get much more than a victory - they got a hard-fought, confidence-building triumph.

Foley, the team's lone senior, established a career-high with 28 points - in the first half alone. In getting all those points, Foley had put three Knights in dire foul trouble, so even though Stetson led by just two at halftime, 52-50, it looked as if Foley would rule the second half and give Stetson an easy, though important victory.

UCF's second-half strategy became apparent, however, all too soon. The Knights pounded the ball inside and within five minutes, Foley - who had two fouls at halftime - was up to four. Stetson led, 63-60, at that time, but nearly half those points had come from Foley.

But then a wonderful thing happened for Coach Nancy Nichols and her team.

The Hatters played well without Foley, actually adding to their lead and going up, 88-83, when Foley returned with 4:49 remaining.

But with Foley out, the rest of the team came through.

Skeeter Golden, the junior point guard and team co-captain along with Foley, scored a career-high 15 points and added 10 assists.

Elaine Fisher, a sophomore forward, also scored 15, including 3-of-4 from the free throw line. The free throws were particularly important because they broke a string of three consecutive Stetson misses on the front end of one-and-one foul opportunities. For the season, Stetson is shooting only 54.1 percent on the season from the free throw line, but Fisher is near 70.

Amy Kuvach, a freshman guard, came off the bench to score 12 points, her career high and hit 4-of-5 free throws.